Planning Proposal - Preliminary Notification - The Globe Hotel, Wollongong

Share your thoughts on proposed changes to the Globe Hotel site

Council has received a planning proposal request (PP-2025/5) for 163–171 Crown Street and 80–82 Church Street, Wollongong, known as The Globe Hotel site. The proposal seeks to increase the maximum building height to support a mixed-use development including hotel and motel accommodation.

We are inviting community feedback to help inform our initial assessment. If Council decides to proceed and receives support from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, a formal public exhibition will be held before any final decision is made.

Site background

Current approved Development Application

The 4,800m² site includes the former David Jones building and City Diggers Club and car park (currently under demolition). Existing approvals allow for a mixed-use development with 8,355m² of commercial office space, a club space, a 114-room motel and a 236-room hotel. Approved building heights range from 16m on Burelli Street to 55m on Crown Street, with sun plane controls in place to protect MacCabe Park from overshadowing between 12pm and 2pm.

Amendment to Development Application

An amendment to the Development Application currently under assessment, proposes increasing commercial office space to 11,490m² and reducing motel rooms to 88, with no change to building height or hotel room numbers.

What's included in this planning proposal?

The new planning proposal seeks a site-specific clause to raise the building height and sun plane control by between 14m and 30m. This would allow for:

• 13,000m² of commercial office space
• A 172-room motel
• A 262-room hotel
• Building heights of 30m (Burelli Street), 45m and 80m (Crown Street)

This change would permit a future modification to the existing development consent. The increased height may result in partial overshadowing of MacCabe Park during the day.

Strategic context

Under Council's revised Tourism Accommodation Strategy 2025, a 30% bonus to building height and/ or floor space ratio is encouraged for developments offering additional hotel rooms (particularly 5-star or equivalent) in the Wollongong City Centre E2 Commercial Centre zone. Council Officers are preparing a Planning Proposal to implement these Local Environmental Plan recommendations.

Please provide your feedback by Monday 18 August 2025. For written and emailed submissions, please quote: 'PP-2025/5'. Any submissions become public documents and may be viewed by other persons on request. Please read Council's Privacy Policy before submitting your feedback.

Accessibility and language assistance

If you’re d/Deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech or language difficulty, you can contact us through the National Relay Service. If you need an interpreter, you can contact us through the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450. You’ll need to provide our phone number 02 4227 7111 for either service.